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Home  /  Plants  /  Budburst Species  /  Asimina triloba

COMMON NAME

Pawpaw

SCIENTIFIC NAME

Asimina triloba

Plant family

Custard-apple (Annonaceae)

Plant group

Deciduous Trees and Shrubs

A deciduous small tree or large shrub that grows 10-40' tall and forms clonal patches. The trunk can be 8" in diameter or more.
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OBSERVERS
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OBSERVATIONS
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Identification hints

The leaves are large and often clustered at the ends of branches, appearing on the stem in two opposite rows (distichous leaf arrangement), which can give the foliage the appearance of overlapping like roof tiles (imbricate).
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Did you know?

Asimina is the only temperate genus of the otherwise tropical and subtropical family Annonaceae.
DISTRIBUTION IN TH U.S.
Alabama , Arkansas , District of Columbia , Delaware , Florida , Georgia , Iowa , Illinois , Indiana , Kansas , Kentucky , Louisiana , Maryland , Michigan , Missouri , Mississippi , North Carolina , Nebraska , New Jersey , New York , Ohio , Oklahoma , Pennsylvania , South Carolina , Tennessee , Texas , Virginia , Wisconsin , West Virginia
HABITAT
Growing in well-drained bottomlands, flood plains, depressions.
ATTRIBUTES
Leaves
10-12" long pear-shaped leaves occur one at a time along the stem (alternate), and droop downward. The leaf tip ends in a drawn-out point and the base is wedge-shaped, borne on a short and stout leaf stalk. Upper leaf surface has fine whitish hairs and the underside have rust-colored hairs.
Flowers
Flowers are bell-shaped and pendant with 3 maroon petals and 3 maroon sepals.
Fruits
The 2-4" long mango-shaped berries appear sometime between August and October and are mango-like in shape. They are yellowish-green colored outside and have a custardy, light orange-colored flesh inside with a few shiny blackish seeds. A prized edible fruit, the flavor is often compared to banana, mango, or pineapple, and not surprisingly, its close relative the custard apple.
Bloom Time
The flowers generally appear before the leaves, blooming from April to May.

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